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Taylor: Manziel Living Up To Reputation

Kevin has been a sports reporter for the Times Record since July 1999. He covers high school sports, with an emphasis on Southside High School. Previously, he was sports editor at the Palestine (Texas) Herald-Press from 1992-99. Kevin was selected the Texas Sports Writers Association Sports Writer of the Year in 1996. A native of Conroe, Texas, Kevin has won numerous writing awards and is the author of "Tiger Boogie," a book chronicling the school's dominate high school football run between 1961-85.

Part of me really wants to like Johnny Manziel. He’s got talent. He’s a little brash. He’s not afraid to be a little crazy.

And he’s got the ladies. Lots of ladies.

(Flashback: One of my high school pals, Lee Johnson, was college roommates with Steve Young back in the 1980s when they were teammates at BYU. One summer we floated the river and hung out for about two weeks and Steve and Lee were like magnets.)

But I was 21 then, not 53. And, even though I was beyond wet behind the ears, I would have never shot the bird at one of the coaches or players I might have covered back then.

Johnny Football? Not so much.

Let’s face it, Cleveland’s rookie quarterback will spend the next few seasons in a fishbowl. Social media, 24-hour news outlets and they’re not going away any time soon.

And, love him or hate him, that won’t keep the brazen Browns’ QB from doing things off — and on the field — he probably did back at Kerrville (Texas) Tivy High and Texas A&M. Johnny Manziel will be Johnny Manziel.

Manziel may make it in the NFL. His life in the most popular league on the planet has just begun.

But for now, he’s just another guy trying to make a name for himself. Trust me, this ain’t Texas A&M going up against the Duke Blue Devils’ secondary. (No offense to Duke’s secondary).

This is the National Football League.

Manziel has displayed some questionable off-the-field behavior since Cleveland took him with the 22nd-overall pick. Yes, Cleveland’s not exactly an NFL hotbed and there is still a good chance Manziel will get to play a lot this year for Browns coach Mike Pettine.

Can anyone out there tell me the name of the other Browns’ quarterback hopefuls? Brandon Weeden has moved on, Jake Delhomme threw his last NFL pass in 2011, and Brady Quinn? Well, he sure looked good in the hotel lobby.

But looks don’t get you very far in the NFL — unless your last name is Brady.

Delhomme threw his last pass for the Texans, Quinn has played for four teams since throwing his last duck for the Browns in 2009, and Weeden is hoping to catch on with the Cowboys.

That leaves either Brian Hoyer or Johnny Manziel to run the show in Cleveland. I’m betting on Hoyer. And, it’s not because the Browns announced Wednesday morning that Hoyer would become the team’s 21st starting quarterback since 1999.

I’d bet the 28-year-old Cleveland native and former Michigan State quarterback is less likely to shoot the bird at an opposing bench.

Manziel’s latest transgression, making an obscene gesture toward Washington’s sideline during the Browns’ Monday night exhibition game with Washington has been replayed on TV and talked about on social media a million times this week.

Oh, that’s just Johnny Football being Johnny Football, right?

Manziel’s not the first or the last NFL player to do something crazy during a game. Even in August.

To his credit, Manziel didn’t avoid reporters following Monday’s game. He said he had a “lapse” in judgement.

My question, though, is will he still be the fun-loving 19-year-old Texas A&M player he was when he’s 22. Or will be the guy on everyone’s fantasy football draft board.